The present invention relates generally to a rotary window cleaner installed in various types of vehicles for removing rain, snow and the like from the outer surface of windowpanes by means of rotation of wipers, and more particularly to such a rotary window cleaner that can be installed in front engine type automobiles in general.
This type of window cleaner is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,649,990. This publicly known rotary window cleaner comprises wipers rotating about a shaft. Each wiper is installed on the outer surface of windowpane in such a way that about one half of their rotational range is on the outer surface of a windowpane and the other half is in a hood. A water collecting box covering the other half is installed in the hood, and is provided with drainage pipes for draining water to the exterior from the bottom of the water collecting box.
Accordingly, there are nothing interrupting the field of vision in front of a driver on the outer surface of windowpane, and the outer surface of windowpane is wiped in a semicircular form. Consequently only a very small portion is left to be wiped while the principal portions (ranges stipulated by laws and regulations) are perfectly wiped out. Furthermore, the wiping speed can be freely increased if the number of revolutions of driving motor are increased, because the wipers are of the rotary type. Even at the time of high speed running of vehicle under the conditions of heavy rainfall and snowfall, the window cleaner maintains a perfect transparent state in the required portions of windowpane and produces a sufficient field of vision in front of a driver, enabling him to safely perform the driving of the vehicle. In addition, the rain, snow and the like which have been wiped off the outer surface of windowpane are collected in the water collecting box and are drained through the drainage pipes without scattering to the exterior, so that neither re-wiping of windowpane is required for wiping rain and snow attached off the outer wurface of windowpane nor rain and snow are scattered at the inconvenience to walkers and other automobiles. The above refers to the special features of conventional rotary window cleaner.
However, in the conventional rotary window cleaner mentioned above, the water collecting box is installed such that the back face is flush with the windowpane provided on the front of the driver's compartment of the vehicle, so that the water collecting box enters deep into the engine room to touch the engine in the case of front engine type automobile. Therefore, this causes the problem that it is impossible to install the conventional rotary window cleaner in the general automobiles, the majority of which is of the front engine type.